


A Boy Without A Name

by themenaceofalderaan



Series: Random Dark Snippets [3]
Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: Claudia Tiedemann - Freeform, During Canon, Elizabeth Doppler - Freeform, Gen, Michael Kahnwald, Noah - Freeform, Post-Apocalypse, all are only mentioned, no beta we die like men, set in the months of 2023 after Jonas' suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29610357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themenaceofalderaan/pseuds/themenaceofalderaan
Summary: During his life in the post-apocalyptic Winden, Jonas meets a boy.
Relationships: Jonas Kahnwald & The Unknown
Series: Random Dark Snippets [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2153226
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	A Boy Without A Name

It was obvious someone was following him.

Jonas was used to it at this point. Whether it was Noah, making sure he doesn’t hang himself again, or other scavengers with the only intention of stealing food and supplies from him.

Jonas notices the unknown figure during the late nights when he goes back from the bunker back home. Well, _home_. The old Kahnwald house can’t be called home without his parents. But he can’t bring them back. He avoids the dining room like a plague for years now, unable to wipe the image of dead Martha on the floor.

And honestly? He does not care if someone was following him. Not like they can kill him. Not like he can do it himself. Time can go screw itself.

He lets the person follow him wherever he goes. They’re like a shadow. Always behind him. Whenever he turns around, there’s no one. They must be quick and small to hide so quickly and easily. They don’t carry a shooting weapon - if so, they’d use it by now. Subtlety, though? Not their strongest trait.

He carries on with his life. Another person following him doesn’t change it much. He has both time and Noah constantly behind his back. Sometimes, he wonders which is worse.

It goes on like that for weeks.

Until he comes back to the house and heads to the basement, a place where he’s been surviving for the past years, and hears someone manipulating with his things downstairs.

Jonas stops in his tracks.

Yes, not like anyone can kill him, but scar him badly? He won’t let anyone try that. He reaches for a knife he carries in his pocket, sliding it underneath his sleeve as he descends down the stairs.

“Hello?” he calls. “I know you’re there.”

He wonders if it’s a traveller. He hasn’t seen one since… since the apocalypse. Claudia and Noah are travellers with him, but there’s no one else around. Not yet.

Jonas takes a deep breath when he sets his feet firmly onto the ground, ready to be tackled by a scavenger or anyone else who might not be in a great mood. Instead, the noise stops and he sees a boy sitting in his sleeping bag, holding an empty can of beans.

Jonas blinks.

He can’t be more than eleven. He’s dirty, like every other survivor, with dark brown hair, pale skin and a cleft palate. He looks at him with wide eyes but doesn’t make a move. He’s not even talking. Jonas has a dreaded feeling of familiarity coming from his eyes but he doesn’t know from where.

_Was he surviving this whole time on his own?_ He wonders, approaching the boy who looks like a scared doe right now.

“Can I help you?” Jonas asks him but gives him a wary eye.

The boy stares at him.

Maybe his mind made him up. Maybe it’s the expired meds for his head that Claudia gave him.

“Do you understand me?” Jonas asks as he puts down his backpack carefully, raising his hands in the air to not scare him. He might look scary. He hasn’t got a real shower for years, his hair is long and greasy, and he brushes his teeth with a weird-tasting toothpaste every day.

This time, the boy nods.

Jonas looks at the empty can of beans the boy found in his stash.

“Do you need… food?”

The boy nods again.

_Great. Now we’re getting somewhere._

Jonas searches in the regals. Their basement was ready for another Chernobyl thanks to his mother. Grandpa Sebastian was suspicious of the powerplant, and so was his mother who stocked their basement in case something happened. They couldn’t be more right.

He makes a warm portion of oatmeal and separates it into two bowls, giving one to the boy.

The boy accepts it, digging in hungrily.

“Eat slower,” Jonas instructs him when he notices the way he swallows his food with verve. God knows how long he was without food. ”You’re gonna get sick.”

Jonas wonders what the hell is happening. This is completely new to this world. There aren’t kids like him wandering around. All kids were evacuated by the military years ago. It was said clearly that whoever stays is left on their own.

So who left the boy here?

“Where are your parents?” Jonas asks. “Or someone else? Is there anyone taking care of you?”

What is he going to do? He can’t just throw the boy out now. Not when he showed him he has tons of food other scavengers would literally kill for. Besides, it’s heartless. Life is as cruel as it is, so is it the right choice to make another person suffer?

When the boy ignores his question, Jonas sits opposite him, sighing.

He can’t just adopt a child, can he? There was no child in question as far as he remembers.

“Do you have a name?” Jonas tries it differently.

The boy looks up, shaking his head.

“No name,” Jonas mutters. If his parents are dead, it is possible he's forgotten. “Well, I am Jonas.”

He doesn’t say anything. Jonas wonders if the boy can talk. He can clearly understand him, so he’s not deaf or a foreigner. But it might be possible that he is a child of the dead scientists who came here and tried to solve the mystery of the world ending.

They eat in silence, Jonas doesn’t attempt any conversation after that. The boy is hungry, so he gives him the rest of his portion as well. In the light of the lantern, his face is strangely relaxed. Jonas wonders why he is so calm. He could kill him and eat him for dinner, after all. There are stranger things happening.

Jonas watches as the boy finishes his food. He then hands him the dirty bowl back. Jonas sets it aside, now certain that the boy can answer him some questions when he’s not focusing on his basic need.

“Are you from Winden?” he asks him.

The boy nods slowly.

“Are your parents alive?”

Another nod.

“Where are they?”

He shakes his head.

“Not with you, obviously,” Jonas murmurs. He really is not that great with kids. “Are they here? In Winden? Or somewhere else.”

The boy points below him.

“In Winden,” Jonas nods, pleased with their advancement. “I can let you stay with me for the night and we can go and search for your parents tomorrow. How does that sound?”

There’s a clear battle in the boy’s eyes before he shrugs in resignation.

Jonas stands up. “You can take my bed for the night.” He’s made himself comfortable anyway.

He lays a sleeping bag on the ground, one that belonged to his father. They went camping together every summer, it was one of the things that could actually get him out of the house. Sometimes they slept in the open air and his father would show him the constellations.

He stares at the ceiling, imagining the cracks in it as constellations. You can’t see stars outside at all nowadays. It’s strange how the world changed so rapidly.

Jonas turns his head towards the boy who passed out in his sleeping back in a matter of seconds. He must have been really exhausted. It’s merciless to leave a child like him to the fate of this town. Winden was horrible for him as a child, he can’t imagine this boy’s trauma in today's Winden.

It’s been years since he fell asleep without feeling completely alone. He didn’t know much about this weird child, but he feels much different in his presence. It’s not Claudia’s determined soul, nor Noah and Elizabeth’s scepticism. It’s loss of innocence. Jonas’ has been through the same thing. He feels sorry for the boy. He probably should not trust him, still, he can’t help but care for him - offer him his makeshift home, his food. That kid must have it tough, why would he make his life even harder at this point?

He lies down, still staring at the boy. What a peculiar day. Even more peculiar company. A boy without a name, a familiar stranger. There’s something about him. Jonas thinks this might be another glitch in the matrix. A boy, popping in so randomly, that’s not suspicious at all.

But before he can figure out what is so different about the boy, Jonas falls asleep.

And when he wakes up, the boy is gone, and Jonas wonders if he was just a dream.

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes a boy just really wants to meet his dad, huh.
> 
> If you ended up here at the end, thank you for reading and comment your thoughts below if you want!


End file.
